Not What I Imagined
by HardcoreEvilRegal
Summary: Fires can be tragic and Emma, Henry and Regina are about to find out why.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own these characters, nor do I own anything from the show. I just have crazy ideas. So shoot me if I wanna write them down!

**Warning**: Character death and suicide. This one is angst. Brought on by a melancholic mood. Though it's nothing compared to some of the angst stories I have read.

**Side Note**: Personally I find this story to be crap. It didn't turn out as I had imagined it in my head. But I'm posting it anyways in hopes that maybe you guys won't find it that bad. Also, not beta-ed.

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Three days. Three days was all it took for every little thing to fall apart. Such a short amount of time for a large amount of heartache to occur. Oh, it started out rather nicely. Well, not if you want back to the beginning. Back when Emma Swan first showed up in Storybrooke with Henry in tow. No, things had started off more than rocky between Regina Mills and Emma Swan. If there were ever enemies, they were certainly categorized there. So much animosity, so much forcefulness between the two women. So much that it almost suffocated the town. It even went so far as to throw it completely out of balance. Everyone knew the Sheriff and the Mayor hated each other, but as they say, there's a fine line between love and hate. Perhaps a bit too fine when it came to the two strong willed women. What everyone didn't know was what went on behind closed doors with those two.

However, despite the town being unaware of the romance budding between them, the town hadn't been all that surprised when spotting the two out together. It had taken Emma quite some time to convince Regina to go on an actual date with her, but she had somehow managed to break the woman down into agreeing. From then on it seemed the two of them were practically inseparable. Well, almost. Regina did like her space now and then. But Emma had snuck her way into Regina's heart without her even realizing and vice versa. The romance progressed and continued, bringing what used to be enemies together as lovers. It certainly hadn't been something either of them expected, considering the way love had gone for both of them. But together they had decided to take a chance, to delve into a life together and face whatever hit them together. There are just some things no one is ever prepared for though and neither Emma nor Regina could have been prepared for what was to happen.

The pair had been together for just over a year, the town completely comfortable with their relationship by that point. Not that they had taken anyone else's feelings of their relationship into consideration. Though they of course still argued now and then, it was plain to see Emma and Regina had fallen head over heels for each other. It was an unexpected twist, but not an unpleasant one. A few months after their year mark, and during a night Emma had decided to stay over, Regina had surprised Emma with a question. They had just finished making love, wrapped up in each others arms when Regina had suggested Emma move in. Emma's mouth had fallen open as she lifted her head to stare at Regina. "Really?" Emma had asked, bewildered. She hadn't ever expected Regina to ask her that. Regina had only nodded, giving a small smile of reassurance.

That had been a giant step for both of them. Emma was never in committed relationships. Hell, her relationship with Regina was one hell of a step for herself. And for Regina, well, love had been ripped away from her too many times for her to ever expect to let anyone else in. But Emma had managed to do just that. She had surprised herself with asking Emma to move in, but she couldn't shake the image from her head of them two of them being a family with Henry. It was all she had ever wanted, ever longed for. It seemed odd to be achieving her happy ending now. The feeling didn't last long though and she shouldn't have expected it to. Regina had gotten caught up in having both Henry and Emma in her life, with Henry far less belligerent towards her. In fact, he openly gave her hugs and thanked her now and then, surprising her every time. She was sure she could get used to having both the people she loved though, knew she could let her heart heal with help from Emma and Henry.

Just like that though, as quick as a blink, it all came crashing down around her ears. All three living in the house were heavy sleepers, so when a fire started in their home late at night, no one noticed. There were no batteries in the smoke detectors, no one ever giving it any thought. So when smoke and flames started to rise to the second story, the alarms never went off. Emma was the first to wake, rousing from her sleep and turning over onto her back. It took her a moment, but she finally noticed an odd smell. She sniffed once and realized it was smoke that was filling her nose. Green eyes flew open and immediately locked on the door. A strange, orange light was glowing under the door and Emma panicked immediately. She shot up, covers falling from her form as she twisted to shake Regina. "Regina! Regina! Wake up! I think…I think there's a fire." Regina stirred for a moment, the words not completely setting in her brain yet. Emma shook her a little harder, voice rising in alarm. "Gina! Get up! There's a damn fire!"

Regina's own brown eyes popped open and she was out of their bed before Emma could blink. "We have to get Henry." Regina's tone was panicked, worried as she went for the door. Emma shot up from the bed, running until she was in front of Regina. "I'll open the door and go first…just in case." Regina's forehead crinkled and her eyebrows knitted together in worry as she leveled a sideways gaze at Emma. She didn't protest though, following closely behind Emma. Emma tapped the doorknob, making sure it wasn't too hot to the touch. It was warm, but not hot enough to have to use something to turn it. Emma grabbed the knob and flung the door open, eyes widening as they were greeted with flames licking away at the walls. A sudden burst of flame flew towards them and Emma turned to cover Regina with her body. A scream crawled its way up Emma's throat as the flames hit her back, burning her a bit before she could move Regina back into the room.

Tiny holes were burned into the back of Emma's tank top, Regina's hands soothing over her back. Emma winced, letting go of Regina and turning her head to look at the fire. It was getting dangerously close to Henry's room. Most of the house was engulfed in flames by this point, making it look near impossible for them to get down the stairs. There was just enough room for them to make a single file line down the stairs and to the door. However, they needed to get Henry from his room first. Emma turned around, eyes hovering on Henry's door. "We have to get him now." She hollered, running fro their room with Regina right on her heels. Emma ignored the pain throbbing in her back, only focusing on getting her family out of the house. As they approached Henry's door, Emma barely turned to Regina, giving her a warning look. "Stay right here. I'll get Henry and we'll be out in just a second." She tried to keep her tone reassuring, but she could tell by the look on Regina's face that she wasn't convinced.

Emma didn't wait for Regina's approval, she turned and grabbed Henry's doorknob. She hissed, pain shooting through her arm as the knob burned her hand. "Shit! Shit!" She cursed, balling her hands into fists. Regina reached forward, hand touching Emma's shoulder. "Emma!" She hollered, eyes flickering towards the ever growing fire. Sweat beaded on their foreheads, the heat beginning to be too much. "Get back, Regina! Now!" Emma yelled, not looking towards her as she faced Henry's door once again. Regina backed up, watching Emma kick open Henry's door. It took once good kick and it went tumbling to the floor with an awful sound. Just as Emma fled into Henry's room, fire licked wood fell to the floor, trapping the two of them inside. A scream ripped its way past Regina's lips as she lunged towards the used to be doorway. Flames flew at her, singing the hair on her arms. She shielded her face, backing up a bit.

Regina's heart pounded in her chest, threatening to beat its way right out of her. "Emma! Henry!" Her eyes were wide with horror as she yelled their names, trying to find a way in to help them. She heard them call out to her, begging for help. "I'm trying! But there's no way in!" Regina was shrieking by this point, unable to jeep her voice from trembling as the tears spilled from her eyes. She tried finding a way in once more, but found herself burned yet again as the flames refused to let her through. Regina backed off, an idea suddenly hitting her. "Just hold on! I have an idea!" There was a beat before she heard a broken reply from Emma. She sounded hopeless, but Regina refused to give up her own hope. "I'm going to go outside and try to find some way to climb up to Henry's window. I will get you out!" Regina tried not to let her panic get the best of her, but she almost didn't hide it. "I will save you." She whispered to herself, turning towards the staircase and running down it, barely making it past the flames.

Just as she burst out the front door, she heard the sirens of the fire truck. That didn't stop her from making her way towards the side of the house Henry's window was on. Climbing up would probably be harder than it looked, but Regina was not about to give up. The firemen were running towards her just as she reached for the side of the house, prepared to propel herself into her. Her hands touched the siding and immediately she felt the heat sear her hands. She held back the scream from the pain, determined to try again. She was going to get Emma and Henry out if it was the last thing she ever did. Henry's window was open and smoke was billowing out of it. She could hear Emma and Henry coughing, Emma craning her head out the window with Henry every now and then. Regina tried to climb up again, this time barely getting past the pain of the hot siding burning her. She was making her way up slowly when a part of the siding Regina reached for broke and slid off, throwing Regina off balance. She couldn't find purchase after that, falling from the side of her house.

Regina expected to hit the ground, but was surprised as she felt burly arms catch her. She struggled out of the firefighters arms, immediately yelling at him as she tried to climb up to Emma and Henry again. "I have to go them out! They're trapped. I have to get them out of there. If I don't, they'll die. And I can't have that. They need to be saved." Regina rambled on, trying to pull herself from the grip of the man holding onto her. "Let go of me you asshole. I need to save them. They have to get out." Regina continued to struggle and throw curse words, trying her hardest to save her little family. She flailed and even tried to punch the firefighter, but he quick to deflect her hit. She was about to yell again when her words were cut off as a horrid cracking sound filled the air. The cracking sound was followed by the sound of crashing, wood hitting wood and flames exploding with it. Her eyes shot up to Henry's window in time to see flames flying out of it.

"Nooooo! Nooooo! Oh my god, nooo!" Regina yelled out, struggling again. "Emma! Henry!" She called their names out over and over again, but there were no responses. The fireman still held Regina back and she vaguely heard him tell someone to get her out of there. She managed to break away, running towards the front door to try and get back in her home. She had to save them. Maybe they were okay. They had to be okay. Just as she reached the front door and grabbed at it, burning herself yet again, someone grabbed her and dragged her back. Her eyes flick towards the few men venturing into the burning house and that's when the stress of the situation finally gets to her. Regina passed out, body going limp against the body that held her back.

Twenty-four hours later, Regina's eyes finally blink open. She closes them for a moment, the brightness of the room too much for a moment. She opens them again a moment later, eyes not adjusting as quickly as she would like. It was as she's trying to remember why she's laying in a hospital bed that she realizes someone is in there with her. Her brown eyes trail over to the chair in the corner of them room. There sat Mary Margaret, curled up into a ball with her eyes closed. Regina cleared her throat, eying the teacher with a frown. "Ms. Blanchard." She barely keeps the disdain dripping from her voice. Mary Margaret is startled awake, not having realized when she had fallen asleep. "Regina." She mumbles, getting up from the chair in a scurry. Mary Margaret immediately looks embarrassed, but there's a sadness in her eyes that Regina can't seem to shake off. It's the sadness that reminds Regina why she's laying in the hospital.

"Where are they?" Is the first question that escapes her. Mary Margaret's face falls, tears springing to her eyes before she can even answer. It's that face that tells Regina everything she needs to know before even a word is spoken. "They didn't get to them in time." Is all Mary Margaret says and it's spoken in a whisper. Regina begins to shake, that void in her heart opening wider than it had ever been before. Though she doesn't want to cry in front of Mary Margaret, she can't help the tears that trail one after the other down her cheeks. "They're dead." She whispers to herself, more of statement than a question. Mary Margaret nods anyway, sitting back down in her chair. "I'm so sorry." She mumbles, wishing there was a way she could comfort Regina. But there wasn't even a way she could comfort herself.

Regina's shaking worsens, her whole body trembling as she begins to sob. Her hands cover her face and she leans back into the pillows behind her. "Why? Why?" She begins to rock, the horrific feeling of love lost yet again taking her over. "Why did it have to be them? She had just moved in. Three days. She had been moved in for three days. And Henry, h-he was so y-young. I l-loved them both s-so much." The sobs wracked her body, voice hitching. "W-why do I always l-lose everything I l-love. Everything I've ever cherished has always been t-taken f-from me." The sobs continued, making it hard for Regina to continue her talking. It was as she was sobbing that she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She jerked and moved away from the hand, wiping at her eyes. That hard mask, the one that Emma had managed to make disappear almost completely, slipped back as she looked up at Mary Margaret. "Do not touch me." Her tone was harsh, her eyes shining with an even larger harshness. "Leave. Just leave."

Mary Margaret did exactly that, not knowing what else to do. Regina was left alone, alone with her thoughts and her sorrow. No one came in to visit her and she refused to let the doctors even take a look at her. Regina was finally released from the hospital, but she had nowhere to go. Her home was burned down along with the two people she loved the most. Instead of finding somewhere to stay, Regina stood in front of what used to be her home, staring blankly at the remains. As she continued staring, her heart ripped in two and fell to pieces inside of her. She swallowed back a shiver and wiped away at the tear that threatened to fall from her eyes. "So you managed to take my son after all." She began, talking to Emma like she was standing right in front of her. "It was not how I imagined it though. You not only managed to take my son, but my heart as well. It burned with you, Emma. It burned with you." Regina's hands trembled now as she balled them into fists. She glared at the remains of her home before turning and walking towards Granny's B&B.

As the weeks after the fire raced by, Regina retracted back into her hard shell. But it wasn't just her hard shell, she retracted into herself. She talked to no one and was barely seen at work. It pained the town to see that this woman was left with nothing. If only they knew just what little she was left with, how much she had lost in her lifetime. She refused to have anyone suggest that her home be rebuilt, refused to let anyone help her. She kept to herself and took to drinking, finding herself in a drunken stupor nearly every night. Mary Margaret had taken to visiting Regina, even though the woman barely said two words to her each time she was there. Just one month after the fire, Mary Margaret decided to make one of her visits. She knocked on the door to Regina's room, expecting an immediate answer. However, a few minutes passed by without the door opening. She knocked once again, leaning her ear against the door. Not a sound was heard from within the room. It was uncharacteristically quiet.

Mary Margaret flung the door open, running into the room in a panic. It was soon after that her eyes fell on Regina's limp body on the floor. She was sickly white and sprawled out on the floor. She immediately bent down and pressed her fingers to Regina's pulse point. There was no pulse at all. Regina was not breathing. It was at that moment Mary Margaret saw the bottle of sleeping pills, newly opened if the plastic and small cotton ball on the floor was any indication. The bottle was completely void of pills. Mary Margaret dropped the bottle, hand flying to her mouth. She stood up, calling for someone to help. She turned towards the door, prepared to run out to look for help, but her eyes caught sight of something. There was a note on the dresser in the room. She turned to pick it up, tears slipping down her cheeks as she read it. "_I could not take the pain of living without Emma and Henry anymore. I had my happy ending, but it was snatched away before I could truly enjoy it. There is nothing more to look forward to, I have nothing left to live for. Perhaps I was never meant to live a happy life. The pain is too much to bare and I refuse to live without them. My mother was right. Love is weakness."_


End file.
